Burying hardward cloth

[Kingerrrr]

Welcome to BYC @Kingerrrr !
Curious, from your wildlife perspective, why the need to dig down 1 foot?

Many animal species can easily dig one foot down into the ground, you can't just go one foot down, you also need to go one foot out with the screen. Raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes are all capable of burrowing. With the L shape of the screen it doesn't matter where they dig, they will keep hitting the screen!

 

[aart]

Many animal species can easily dig one foot down into the ground, you can't just go one foot down, you also need to go one foot out with the screen. Raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes are all capable of burrowing. With the L shape of the screen it doesn't matter where they dig, they will keep hitting the screen!

I posit that you don't have to go down far, if at all.
If screen goes out a good 18" you don't need an 'L' or any burying,
they dig at bottom of vertical wall and just hit the screen sooner if it's not buried.
Now bury screen for true tunnelers(mice, voles, maybe rats) might be a different story, as they are already below ground surface.

 

[Kingerrrr]

I posit that you don't have to go down far, if at all.
If screen goes out a good 18" you don't need an 'L' or any burying,
they dig at bottom of vertical wall and just hit the screen sooner if it's not buried.
Now bury screen for true tunnelers(mice, voles, maybe rats) might be a different story, as they are already below ground surface.

Burying screen is a much more aesthetically pleasing and safe way of installing the screen. Screen simply laid on the ground, or slightly underground can become a tripping hazard or even a cutting hazard around the coop. Raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes are very intelligent and will know to push the screen up and go under if not at least slightly buried. As mentioned, I did wildlife control for many years; the 1ft by 1ft is your most effective way to screen your coop or even your deck/shed

 

[aart]

Burying screen is a much more aesthetically pleasing and safe way of installing the screen. Screen simply laid on the ground, or slightly underground can become a tripping hazard or even a cutting hazard around the coop. Raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes are very intelligent and will know to push the screen up and go under if not at least slightly buried. As mentioned, I did wildlife control for many years; the 1ft by 1ft is your most effective way to screen your coop or even your deck/shed

Many of us here have learned that just because something been done one way for many years, doesn't mean there might not be another way that's just as effective, or better.

It does need to be tacked down and lay flat, common sense would show that you don't just leave the outer edge of screen sticking up and flappin' in the wind due to access and/or injury. If ground and screen is flat it can be laid on top of 'scalped' turf grass that will grow back right up thru and it can be mowed over. Landscaping pins can be most effective to hold screen down until grass grows thru and anchors it. Of course, in different situations it may need to be buried a few inches depending on ground makeup and traffic patterns.

18"-24" is a good distance to go out, just for the 'going under' aspect, most animals are not going to keep digging backwards that far until the find the edge of screen. Why dig 12" down and 12" out for 24" of screen when you can just pin it down, or bury it an inch or two?

 

[Seaecho]

I agree with you, aart. It makes sense. We will be laying landscape timbers along the outside edges of the skirt to keep it flat. I'll have to do it that way, since the pins won't work, as we have sand here and no grass. There might be a few weeds, but that's it. So it'll have to be anchored in place in any case. And the stakes, which will be placed on the outside of the run, will be run down only a few inches. We will cover the screen with some sand so it won't be an eyesore. I can see others' points of view, and I love the input, but our worst predator would be our own dog. He keeps wild critters away, but I don't trust him around the chickens. Funny, the property protector would easily be a chicken predator!

 

[aart]

We will be laying landscape timbers along the outside edges of the skirt to keep it flat.

Better to bury it a few inches....they may start dig under the outer edge of landscape timber and end up under the apron....unless edge of apron and timber is a good 2' away from run wall.

 

[Seaecho]

Well, the skirt will be 3.' I know, overkill, but since I won't be be burying more than a few inches, I figured I might as well use my 4' wire as a skirt!

 

[aart]

Well, the skirt will be 3.' I know, overkill, but since I won't be be burying more than a few inches, I figured I might as well use my 4' wire as a skirt!

Well, 3' would be good if your using the timber at the outer edge of apron.

 

[Seaecho]

So that's what I'll do! Thanks so much aart!